Embattled Missouri Southern State University President Bruce Speck outlined a way of dealing with the dissension that has ripped through his campus since he first took over the university in 2008.A university must be run civilly, Speck said. "It's not a matter of playing political games with each other, it's about a little bit of transparency, If you've got to put a lid on something then there's some problem that needs to be addressed."
It would be nice if those words had been issued by Speck while emerging from the cocoon that either he or his bosses, the Board of Governors, has placed him in during the past few weeks. During that time, Speck's words have been issued through spokesman Rod Surber, a reversal of the normal practice of the ventriloquist putting the words into the mouth of the dummy.
Yes, it would be nice, but those words were spoken three years ago today as Speck was unsuccessfully interviewing for a provost position at Roanoke University in Virginia.
In that article, Speck talks about mining private sources for money for a university, something he has done little of since he took the reins at MSSU, unless, of course, you count the money raised to spur along the construction of a Joplin medical school which would have only had tenuous ties with the university.
(Photo: A rare photo from the days when Bruce Speck actually spoke.)
We are reminded that Dr. Speck UNSUCCESSFULLY interviewed at six other places before MSSU finally hired him. The search committee should have asked themselves why all of these other universities passed on Dr. Speck. That should have been the tip-off right there.
ReplyDeleteLets hope that the board has finally wised up - and that speck knows he is leaving in june - if its the salary they are worring about - I bet all most all faculty and staff would chip in to pay that last year
ReplyDeleteThe board of governors should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this fiasco to continue this long. How many hits does the institution have to take in the press before they decide it's time to move on?It's unfair to the students, it's unfair to the faculty, it's unfair to the staff, it's unfair to the community, and, yes, it's even unfair to Speck who will certainly be happier in his next professional incarnation.
ReplyDeleteHow funny!!! Surber is the ventriloquist and Speck the dummy. How true!!! Folks, we've got a buffoon, a laughingstock, an incompetent bumbler for a president at MSSU.
ReplyDeleteI am assuming that Speck has been silenced by the board in preparation for his departure in June. Any other notion is unacceptable. Let’s not forget that the previous presidential search committee supported Speck only after every other candidate backed out. Those committee members were reticent to hire Speck but, apparently, they didn’t want to start the entire process from scratch. I hope none of those individuals are placed on the next presidential search committee. Southern deserves better.
ReplyDeleteThere is another plausible theory: The Board recognizes that every time The Brewster says or writes anything, he embarrasses them, the university, and himself -- and often lets another quarter million dollars slip through his doughy fingers. Consequently, they may have ordered him to simply hush. That is a good start, but incomplete without announcing his imminent departure just about any day now. C'mon, Obtuse Bruce, it's time to go!
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